Duke Energy Florida's coal generation share tumbles in November: filing

Houston — Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, saw a coal generation mix of just 2.9% in November, down from 18.5% expected for the month and 18% in October, the utility said in a state regulatory filing.

The regulated utility told the Florida Public Service Commission it burned 32,343 st of coal in November, down from 219,903 st projected to be burned during the month and 292,908 st burned in October. The latest month was also down from 257,300 st burned in the year-ago month, which made up 22.7% of the generation mix.

Natural gas burn was at 20.58 Bcf in November, or a 95.3% mix, compared with 22.15 Bcf, or 80.3%, in October, and 15.92 Bcf, or 76.6%, in the year-ago month.

In November, Florida city-gate gas prices averaged $2.719/MMBtu, up from $2.427/MMBtu in October, but down from $2.752/MMBtu in the year-ago month, according to S&P Global Platts data.

Duke Energy Florida's Crystal River coal-fired plant generated 82,111 MWh in November, compared with 661,336 MWh in October and 591,269 MWh in the year-ago month.

Total coal burn in 2020 through November was at 1.5 million st, down from 1.98 million st burned in the first 11 months of 2019. Generation mix for coal was at 8.5% through November, down from 11.6% a year ago.

Average fuel cost for coal was at $3.38/MMBtu in November, down from $3.51/MMBtu in October and $3.59/MMBtu in the year-ago month.

Coal purchases climb on month

Coal purchases for the month totaled 254,298 st in November, up from 251,880 st in October and 254,149 st in the year-ago month. The utility has purchased 1.6 million st of coal this year through November, compared with 1.37 million st expected for the period and 1.62 million st purchased in the first 11 months of 2019.

At the end of November, Duke Energy Florida's coal inventory was at 437,355 st, compared with 215,399 st after October and 242,069 st in the year-ago month.

In 2019, over 2.01 million st was delivered to Duke Energy Florida, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.

The delivered coal, which came from mines in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, had an average heat content of 11,976 Btu/lb at an average cost of $56.01/st, according to the EIA data.